Regional Challenge Draws Top Golfers

There may not be the star power this year but the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge remains one of the top collegiate women’s golf tournaments in the country.

Lorena Ochoa was the story last year, winning the tournament en route to a record seven consecutive individual titles and eight overall as a sophomore at Arizona. Ochoa is now a rookie on the LPGA tour.

But there should be some quality golf played at Palos Verdes Golf Club beginning Monday and continuing through Wednesday. USC, UCLA and Pepperdine, along with national powers Arizona, Tulsa and Florida, highlight an 18-team tournament, 14 of those teams ranked among the top 25 in the latest Golfweek poll.

“There’s always a waiting list to get into this event,” USC Coach Andrea Gaston said. “We feel it’s probably one of the most prestigious and popular events in the country.”

Individually, Pepperdine senior Katherine Hull and USC senior Mikaela Parmlid are ranked second and third in the latest Golfweek ratings. Lindsey Wright, Hull’s teammate and an NCAA runner-up last year, is ranked ninth. Arizona’s Erica Blasberg, a freshman from Corona, is ranked first.

Gaston is looking for a breakout performance from her team as it begins the spring season.

The Trojans also have reigning U.S. Amateur champion Becky Lucidi.

“That’s our one-two punch,” Gaston said of Parmlid and Lucidi. “We have great potential. Every one of [our players] has shot rounds in the 60s.”

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Rachel Miller-Reif resigned as UC Riverside’s softball coach three days before its season opener Wednesday against UCLA.

Assistant Mike Smith was appointed interim coach for the season.

Miller-Reif was 38-124-1 in three seasons as the Highlanders made the transition to Division I. Athletic Director Stan Morrison said the resignation was for “personal reasons.”

Morrison said the resignation was not based on Miller-Reif ‘s record.

“It was a decision that was difficult to come to,” he said. “It’s a very tough situation. However, I cannot comment on the resignation other than it was for personal reasons. It is university policy.

“I was concerned about the timing of this. But it’s done and we’re moving forward.”

In their first games under Smith, a former coach at Biola, the Highlanders lost to the top-ranked Bruins, 15-0 and 20-0.

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Long Beach State baseball Coach Dave Weathers was chosen as an assistant coach of the U.S. national team in 2003. Weathers, in his second year as the 49ers’ coach, will help with a team that will play in the Pan American Games from Aug. 1 to Aug. 15 at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. South Carolina’s Ray Tanner is head coach.

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USC, UCLA and top-ranked Stanford are among the 16 women’s teams competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. National Team Indoor Championships at Madison, Wis. The tournament, which began Thursday and runs through Sunday, also features the top three singles players, Agata Cioroch of Georgia, Kelly McCain of Duke, and Jewel Peterson of USC.... The Occidental men’s basketball team defeated second-place Cal Lutheran on Saturday, 80-77, improving to 15-2 overall and 6-0 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Tigers are ranked 14th in a poll conducted by the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches.